Overview

See main Green Craggie page

Getting There

To get to the trailhead, you have to find the beautiful little town of Brookings on the Highway 101 on the south Oregon Coast. From Hwy 101, just south of Brookings is the bridge over the Chetco River. On the north side of the bridge is North Bank Road that heads east up the Chetco River towards Loeb State Park. This is a good scenic paved road. Enjoy the beautiful views of the turquoise colored Wild and Scenic Chetco River on your drive.

Loeb State Park is 7.2 miles from Hwy 101. In another .5 mile the road narrows to one paved lane with turnouts. Right where the road narrows is a neat nature trail on the left that has some of the Oregon Redwoods. Stay on this one lane paved road until you cross a long single lane bridge and the road T’s. This should be about 15.4 miles from Hwy 101.

Turn left at this T towards Snow Camp Lookout. The road turns to gravel here and it is a wide good gravel road from here all the way to the trailhead. 2WD low clearance vehicles are okay. Stay on this main road that is occasionally labeled Road 1376. Keep following the signs towards Snow Camp Lookout.

At 28.1 miles from Hwy 101 and just past a marker for Milepost 21 there is a gate and the road is closed. On the left here is the trailhead for Snow Camp Lookout and parking for a few cars. There is an outhouse and picnic table here also. Park here.

Route Description

The hike begins on the road. Walk around the gate and follow the road easterly. You can see Green Craggie directly ahead of you with Big Craggie in the background. Within .25 mile of the gate notice the Cobra Lilies on the left side of the road. These Cobra Lilies are carnivorous and if you have ever seen the movie “Little Shop of Horrors” you will know to keep your distance. Follow the road 1.3 miles to a spot where the road makes a sharp left turn to the north. You want to continue straight ahead at this point onto a little branch road marked 460. Follow this road another .5 mile staying right at a fork. The road ends in a little clearing and you’ve had a nice warm-up for the real hike.

Continue easterly through the brush at the end of the road and up the little ridgeline. Bear to the left after a couple hundred feet until you can see where dropping off the ridge to the left will be better than breaking brush on the ridgeline. You don’t need to gain any elevation at this point, so stay down off the top of the ridge and walk under the trees where the brush isn’t so thick.

If you are lucky you will find some flagging tape left by others that lead in the general direction that you want to go. Try to follow these red and orange little flags.

There isn’t anything that qualifies as a trail here. Sometimes there is almost an animal track that will lead you through the brush. Your goal is to continue heading east following the contours up and down on the north side of the ridgeline. Do not cross over to the south side of the ridge because it is completely impassable, blocked by brush. Make lots of mental notes of your surroundings so you can find your way back to the road on your return.

After you have persevered for about 1 ½ hours and only traveled about a mile, you will be getting close. Eventually, you will break out of the brush on the northwest side of Green Craggie and you will be under a nice old growth canopy of Douglas Fir. To your right or south up a steep hill is Green Craggie. You have a relatively unobstructed steep ascent to the summit climbing about 600 ft of elevation gain above you.

Return to your car the same way you came. Pay attention to where you are going, otherwise you will meander off to the north and add lots of extra bushwhacking to your climb. This hike should take about 4.0 hours and covers about 6 miles. Total elevation gain is about 1,500 with all the ups and downs.

Essential Gear

Water, Hat, Good Shoes, Long Pants, Long Sleeve Shirt, Gloves, and the Ten Essentials. There is nothing technical about this route. There may be water in one of the little creeks along the road, but there is none once you enter the brush.

A GPS or compass is handy to verify that you are heading in the right direction. I love my GPS when it comes time to find my way back out of the brush.